After losing to the Dallas Stars on Saturday, the Devils look to rebound quickly against the Nashville Predators on the road. Check out the matchup in this game preview.
The Essentials
Matchup: New Jersey Devils at Nashville Predators
Date: February 23rd, 2025
Time: 6:00 PM ET
Broadcast: NHL Network, MSG, FDSNSO
Listen: Devils Hockey Network
The Last Devils Game: On Saturday, the Devils faced off against the Dallas Stars at The Rock. The Devils didn’t resume NHL play the way they hoped. The Stars scored twice before the halfway point of the first period. New Jersey had plenty of shots and scoring chances but struggled mightily to bury anything against Casey DeSmith (More on this topic below). To their credit, the Devils stuck with it and attempted a comeback in the third period. Jack Hughes scored twice within two minutes, but it was not enough. Matt Duchene scored a dagger of a goal, and Wyatt Johnston tallied an empty net goal in the third period to defeat the Devils 4-2. If you missed the game, check out Chris’ recap.
The Last Predators Game: The Preds defeated the Avalanche at home on Saturday. Justin Barron and Jonathan Marchessault scored, and Juuse Saros handled the rest. Saros stopped 31 of the 32 shots he faced. Per Natural Stat Trick, the Avs were expected to score 2.43 goals against the Nashville goalie. If you want to do extra homework on the Predators, check out NHL.com’s game recap.
The Last Devils – Predators Game: The Devils defeated the Predators 5-2 on November 25th. Nico Hischier recorded the first natural hat trick of his career in that contest. Erik Haula and Justin Dowling rounded out the scoring against Nashville. In that victory, Timo Meier cross-checked Zachary L’Heureux in the face, which resulted in a major penalty. New Jersey successfully killed the five-minute man advantage for the Preds en route to the victory. If you missed that game, check out Chris’ recap.
Recent Momentum: The Nashville Predators (20-28-7) have won their last two games, but those are their only victories in the previous eight games. The Devils (31-21-6) have won four of their last eight games, including two overtime/shootout wins against Pittsburgh and Montreal.
Lineups
New Jersey Devils
Per Amanda Stein, here is how the Devils set their lines and pairings against Dallas. Nico Daws is the projected starter against Nashville in the second game of this back-to-back schedule.
Based on morning skate lines it looks like Jack is in tonight, skating on his regular line.
Seamus Casey skating as an extra D.
Dowling is the odd-man out.
Here’s how the #NJDevils are lining up ahead of facing the Dallas Stars: pic.twitter.com/2xPKwH2w8y
— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) February 22, 2025
Nashville Predators
Per Nick Kieser, here is how the Predators lined up against Colorado on Saturday. Based on Kieser’s post, Justus Annunen is the projected starter against the Devils.
NSH lines vs COL
Forsberg – O’Reilly – Marchessault
Stamkos – Svechkov – Nyquist
Jankowski- Novak – Evangelista
Smith – McCarron – SissonsJosi – Schenn
Skjei – Blankenburg
Englund – BarronSaros
Annunen— Nick Kieser (@KieserNick) February 22, 2025
What to Watch For
Predators or Prey of the Central
As of the writing of this post, before the conclusion of all the games on Saturday night, Nashville is in seventh place in the Central Division with 47 points. The Predators are lacking in several statistical categories. Per NHL.com, they are tied for second to last in the NHL in goals, having only scored 145. Nashville averages 2.64 goals per game, one of the league’s lowest goals-per-game averages. Meanwhile, the Preds allow an average of 3.27 goals per game and have allowed the eighth most goals in the NHL. Nashville allows 29.4 shots per game, which ties them for seventh most in the league. In the NHL, anybody can beat anybody on any given night. Still, a loss to Nashville would be a blow to the Devils in the race to secure a playoff spot.
Big Cats
The struggling Predators are led offensively by Filip Forsberg (53 points). The left winger from Nashville has nine more points than the runner-up, Jonathan Marchessault. Forsberg has tallied 21 goals and 32 assists. Marchessault has recorded 18 goals thus far. Defensively, the Predators’ forward core and the entire team have floundered. Nashville does not have a single forward with a positive +/- record. For a frame of reference, New Jersey has seven forwards with a positive +/- record. The Devils must take advantage and CAPITALIZE on this team.
Defensively, captain Roman Josi (38 points) leads the Predators. Josi has accrued nine goals and 29 assists. His 38 points rank third on the team. Like most team members, Josi has been hampered by a +/- of -25. The Preds defender has posted positive season +/- totals since the 2020-2021 season. Luke Schenn starts on the top pairing with Jose. Schenn hasn’t done much in the 2024-2025 campaign and is -7 this season.
When playing Nashville, hockey fans know that the last line of defense they face will be Juuse Saros. Fortunately for the Devils, Saros started against the Avalanche on Saturday, so they will likely face backup goaltender Justus Annunen. Annunen has posted a save percentage of 0.904, slightly better than Saros. Annunen has saved 1.48 goals above average. The Devils must jump on Nashville’s stumbling defense and not let Josi and Annunen get comfortable in this matchup.
FINISH on Scoring Opportunities and Finish This Back-to-Back
On Saturday, the Devils could not bury the puck against Casey DeSmith and the Dallas Stars. New Jersey had ten or more shots in each of the three periods. Off the top of my head, I can think of point-blank chances for Tomas Tatar and Ondrej Palat in the first period and grade-A chances for Timo Meier and Brett Pesce in the second period—none of those opportunities translated into goals. I am not even counting some of the looks that Dougie Hamilton had. I’m not taking anything away from DeSmith, who made good saves and was tracking the puck well, but some of those scoring chances HAVE to go in.
The Devils will face Nashville and their ailing defense in the second game of another back-to-back set. New Jersey has had a massive issue losing the second game in back-to-back sets. The Devils have played consecutive games seven times this season and lost six. Their only win in the second game of a back-to-back was against the Sabres back in OCTOBER! Three of those losses were against the Islanders, Sharks, and Senators. Weak teams that the Devils let off the hook. After yesterday’s loss, New Jersey has to end this losing streak and finish this two-game set on a positive note.
Your Thoughts
Will New Jersey find a way to finish against the Preds? Who is going to step up to bury this puck in this matchup? How do you think the Devils stack up against the Predators in the second game of this back-to-back? Thank you for reading, and GO DEVILS!!!